BN must be destroyed


Dean Johns
Malaysiakini
Mar 6, 2013

I’ve expressed this obvious message in so many ways over the years – in attempts to spice it up with variety – all to no apparent avail thus far, that it strikes me that I should try mindless repetition for a change.

This will be terribly tedious for us all of course, but the possible gain could be well worth our collective pain. Because repetition of the patently, blatantly obvious has worked a treat in the past.

Most famously, as history recalls, for Cato the Elder, who in the years between 175 and 146BC bored his fellow ancient Romans witless by ending his every speech in the senate with the statement that “Carthage must be destroyed”.

Four words that for years rendered Cato a figure of fun. But finally taken seriously and given force by the Roman sword, they proved to be a death sentence to the dreaded Carthage.

Thus my hopes for the similar success of my mantra for the foreseeable future, or at least until Malaysia’s endlessly-awaited 13th general election: BN must be destroyed.

Admittedly, BN is not a foreign threat to Malaysia as Carthage was to Rome. But this criminal coalition is arguably as dangerous to the future of the Malaysia and Malaysians as any external enemy might be.

For more than 50 years, and especially in the past 30, BN has been an insidious, creeping evil attacking and infesting Malaysia by stealth.

Steadily stealing as much of the nation’s land, oil, timber, corporate wealth and hard cash as it can get away with, and simultaneously robbing Malaysians of all possible forms of defence or redress.

BN may not be an invader, but it is certainly an all-pervader. It has systematically colonised and co-opted the civil services at every level from federal to local with its own relatives, cronies, sycophants and place-seekers.

Perverting the system of justice

It has flooded the country with foreign workers to ensure cheap, sweated – if not slave labour – for its captive economy, and secretly handed-out citizenships to illegal immigrants selected as most likely to show their gratitude in the form of votes.

And simultaneously the regime has robbed Malaysians of their proper protections in the face of such assaults on their rights and property by subverting the forces of law and order, perverting the system of justice, corrupting the electoral commission and turning the people’s last hope of protection, the mass media, into its own pack of propagandising ‘prostitutes’.

BN must be destroyed. As of course someday it certainly will be, just as Carthage was over 2,000 years ago by its destroyer, Rome, centuries later.

But BN won’t last for 500 years, despite its desperate attempts to emulate Roman emperors’ ‘bread-and-circuses’ method of control of their subjects with 1Malaysia-styled 1Malaysia People’s Aid (BR1M) and sandiwaras.

In fact, 50+ years look to be pretty much BN’s limit. Most Malaysians with any brains are utterly scornful of the regime’s efforts to forgive the plundering of countless billions of their cash and resources in return for ‘gifts’ of trifling sums of hush-money.

And the sandiwaras intended to amuse and divert the populace seem to be alienating more of the masses than they impress. Throwing Christians to the lions seemed to have been a big hit with ancient Romans for a while, but BN’s threats to burn Christian Bibles seem to have gone down like a lead balloon.

As have many former entertainments that BN has arranged for the diversion and instruction of the public, like the shooting and C4-dismemberment of Altantuya Shaariibuu, the throwing of Teoh Beng Hock out of a window of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) building, and the deaths of dozens of ‘suspects’ in police shoot-outs and custody.

Similarly, while displays of armed combat to the death were reportedly highly popular back in ancient Rome’s Coliseum, the Malaysian people are apparently giving the thumbs-down to the gladiatorial contest that BN has been staging between its commandoes and police and a band of insurgents from the Southern Philippines in Sabah.

Considerable suspicions cast over BN

It has not only resulted in the considerable loss of lives, but has cast considerable suspicions over the BN regime’s grip on the national security that it claims as its forte, the usefulness or otherwise of its armed forces, grossly over-priced weapons acquisitions, and its innocence of involvement in Muslim uprisings in the southern Philippines and Thailand.

But perhaps the most telling casualty of this long-running and still ongoing saga has been any shred of credibility that the BN regime might have retained.

The regime first claimed that two Malaysian casualties had been caused by mortar fire, then changed the story to shooting.

But even then the powers that be couldn’t get their stories straight, with Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein (right) explaining that gunfire had begun when the insurgents tried to make a rush to break through their surrounding cordon, and Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak claiming that the Malaysians casualties had been tricked into presenting themselves as targets by the other side’s waving of a white flag of truce.

Meanwhile, BN’s original assertion via Hishammuddin that the insurgents were not terrorists but fellow Muslims, which struck most of us as quite amazingly oxymoronic, has now morphed into the accusation that Anwar Ibrahim is behind the whole thing.

BN mouthpiece ‘news’ media, including Bernama, Utusan Malaysia, Star Online and TV3 have reported Najib as having urged the intelligence authorities to “probe claims that the opposition had instigated the heir of the Sulu Sultanate to reclaim Sabah”.

This allegation was reportedly based on a claim that Anwar recently met with the leader of the Moro National Liberation Front, Nur Misuari. But embarrassingly for Najib, Misuari recently stated in an interview with the Philippines’ Davao Today that Najib is his friend and a cousin of his grand-nephew.

Thus adding weight to what many of us suspect – that far from Anwar and the opposition, it is actually BN that is using the incursion to destabilise Sabah, either for the purpose of postponing the coming general election, or declaring a state of emergency in line with Najib’s stated strategy to retain power even at the cost of broken bodies and lost lives.

In short, this is yet another sign that it’s way past time for Malaysians to put an end to this rotten regime’s reign of robbery, terror and error. Or as old Cato would put it if he were alive today, BN must be destroyed.

DEAN JOHNS, after many years in Asia, currently lives with his Malaysian-born wife and daughter in Sydney, where he coaches and mentors writers and authors and practises as a writing therapist. Published books of his columns for Malaysiakini include ‘Mad about Malaysia’, ‘Even Madder about Malaysia’, ‘Missing Malaysia’, ‘1Malaysia.con’ and ‘Malaysia Mania’.

  1. #1 by lee tai king (previously dagen) on Friday, 8 March 2013 - 8:40 am

    Oh yes certainly. BN MUST BE DESTROYED! You see the earth is round. Well nearly so. And that also means yes BN MUST BE DESTROYED. Then again the moon too is round or nearly so. The fact that the moon is nearly round like the earth makes in imperative that – yes yes – BN MUST BE DESTROYED. And why must BN BE DESTROYED? For it otherwise, BN WILL DESTROY US. So BN MUST BE DESTROYED before BN DESTROYS US. This is important. BN’s effort to destroy us has already gone on for 50yrs. And our destruction is imminent now. Before that happens, BN MUST BE DESTROYED.

    Lets do it. Let us all do it in GE13 with our votes. Let us DESTROY BN.

  2. #2 by chengho on Friday, 8 March 2013 - 8:56 am

    you mean BN or Malay ?

    • #3 by Bunch of Suckers on Friday, 8 March 2013 - 12:02 pm

      Back to ask your mama & papa, ChangeHoles!!! Your papa and mama will elaborate to you precisely why you were being popped with chicken brain…

  3. #4 by boh-liao on Friday, 8 March 2013 - 9:40 am

    HOW lah 2 DESTROY UmnoB/BN? So easi meh?
    Now U no C meh, NR like a super-hero, showing his 1 finger everywhere he went n whenever he was fotografed
    How MMK wished he is THE 1 savoring d super-hero or victor limelight, giving V, V, V 2 1 n all

  4. #5 by Bigjoe on Friday, 8 March 2013 - 10:16 am

    I thought Najib fortune had recovered by wrapping himself in heroic PR of Sabah’s skirmish until last night when Ali Rustam’s boys decided to trash Anwar’s party because too many Malays showed up for him..

    These guys just don’t have it as together as you may think. They rely on underhanded tactic too much..They are too weak-minded to do real thinking and real hardwork..

  5. #6 by Loh on Friday, 8 March 2013 - 4:18 pm

    ///BN mouthpiece ‘news’ media, including Bernama, Utusan Malaysia, Star Online and TV3 have reported Najib as having urged the intelligence authorities to “probe claims that the opposition had instigated the heir of the Sulu Sultanate to reclaim Sabah”.

    This allegation was reportedly based on a claim that Anwar recently met with the leader of the Moro National Liberation Front, Nur Misuari. But embarrassingly for Najib, Misuari recently stated in an interview with the Philippines’ Davao Today that Najib is his friend and a cousin of his grand-nephew.///–the author

    It is alright for Najib to be related to Nur Misuari and be his friend too, but not alright for Anwar to meet him, whether he did it or not.

  6. #7 by john on Friday, 8 March 2013 - 11:56 pm

    “to retain power even at the cost of broken bodies and lost lifes”
    Ah-C-4 trying to outdo MMKutty (a traitor) here !
    Not surprised at all ! After what MaMak Kutty’s despicable act, turned traitor giving freely, easily citizenships to illegals immigrants ( of his chosen ones ! ) in return for their ‘votes’ to cling to power then ! As Sabah is the Kingmaker, either or MMKutty retained power this way as it was, proven !
    And day in day out now , Ah-C-4 rhetorics on TVs about what ? patriotic – JOKER ( BUT to C4 means TRAITOR ! like MMK )
    BUT MAJORITY OF RAKYAT CAN BE COUNTED ON BEING PATRIOTIC TO VOTE ” Anything But Umno/bn ” ie. A B U !!!

  7. #8 by Noble House on Saturday, 9 March 2013 - 2:58 am

    You know your country is dying when you have to make a distinction between what is moral and ethical, and what is legal. The loss of lives is not something which to speculate on at this point of time. What should be our only concern is they must not have died in vain.

  8. #9 by Sallang on Saturday, 9 March 2013 - 9:04 am

    “I’ve expressed this obvious message in so many ways over the years – in attempts to spice it up with variety – all to no apparent avail thus far, that it strikes me that I should try mindless repetition for a change.”

    DEAN JOHNS

    Well written. You have summarized 30 years of mismanagement by the present regime into one posting.
    Your frustrations reflected in the first sentence is understandable, because not many readers like to read lengthy write-ups. They are good for armchair readers, and these are mostly passed 60’s.
    Another reason is because,Malaysian English not so good.
    However,break them up into short, straight to the point topics, minus the flowery words.

    ‘I fell on my bottoms’ or ‘ I displaced my center of gravity, and landed on my posteriority’

  9. #10 by Winston on Saturday, 9 March 2013 - 10:57 am

    Looks like UMNO/BN has its back to the wall!
    Nothing it tried works!
    Trying to hang all their crimes over the decades of their corrupt, scam and scandal riddled reign on the opposition didn’t work.
    Paying the so-called cyberstupids to mouth bad the opposition didn’t work.
    Getting pricey overseas PR firms to burnish their image doesn’t work (because they have no image whatsoever for the PR folks to burnish)!
    Even paying millions to Psy to prop them up didn’t work either!
    And instead of getting YES answers for UMNO/BN, all they got was NO at the function!
    So, now in their desperation, they have resorted to violence at the opposition’s ceramah!
    And don’t they know who is their greatest enemy?
    They themselves!
    Because they have been very busy shooting themselves in both feet with double barrelled shotguns!!

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